Donald Trump’s daily antics are irresistible to the media such that the most important news stories either never get reported or maybe a one-and-done, or they are out there for awhile, but only until a new bright, shiny Trump story comes along. Then they forget all about everything that came before. Every invented media lure launched by Trump for the purpose of controlling the narrative, is treated as “breaking news!”

The Epstein files saga is still happening behind the scenes but we won’t see much about it until after the mid-terms, most likely.  One person who never quits on this story however, is Julie K. Brown. If you don’t know her, she is a print journalist who writes for the Miami Herald.

Julie K. Brown bio from her substack page.

“Award-winning journalist whose investigations into Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking network led to his arrest and focused international attention on the case. On Signal jkbjournalist.25”

She posts her Signal contact information in part because she is still accepting tips about the Epstein files story. You can also follow her on Twitter and BlueSky.

Most recently, she has shown her fearlessness by making the following observation publicly.

Julie K. Brown, whose reporting on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for The Miami Herald earned her a string of major awards, branded [Natalie] Harp Trump’s “side piece” in a post on X. Brown made the comment on Wednesday, August 18, while responding to a post from Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson.

Wilson had shared a series of right-wing pundits and politicians who had criticized Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff for bringing the Trump-Harp controversy into the spotlight. Brown wrote, “None of these people defending Trump’s side piece seemed to have any issue with Trump calling female reporters ‘piggy’ and ‘hag.’” –   Link

But before we sidestep too far into Trump crazy land,  I wanted to share Julie K. Brown’s recent reporting about convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Follow this link to her Substack and I recommend becoming a paid subscriber. JKB is almost singularly responsible for breaking this story and keeping it alive. As Professor Tim Snyder writes in his book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, one way we can fight back against fascism is by financially supporting journalism and just causes.

Ghislaine Maxwell’s Pedophile Puppy Trick:  Judge slams door on her last-ditch appeal

by Julie K. Brown

Ghislaine Maxwell put a lot of sweat into representing herself in her quest to throw out her 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking.

It’s telling she didn’t hire a lawyer for this last-ditch, desperate quasi-appeal — maybe because she arrogantly believed that she could do a better job of winning her case than an experienced lawyer who has done these types of habeas corpus petitions their entire careers.

Her arguments, however, were dismissed by the judge almost as efficiently as Maxwell employed the pedophile puppy trick to lure girls into having sex with Epstein. (More on this later).

U.S. District Judge Paul Englemayer’s rejection of her petition was brutal. He took it apart — and then stuck a pin in it. He didn’t just deny it, he called it “rambling,” “frivolous” and filled with “falsehoods.”

Read the Miami Herald story here

Then, he said what I’ve been saying for months — that the Epstein Files actually incriminate Maxwell even more than what federal prosecutors did in 2021. In other words, there is additional evidence against her in the files that were released starting in December 2025.

Which brings me to the pedophile puppy trick, which is an actual tactic, called a “pet lure” that pedophiles use to trap children by exploiting their natural love of animals to approach and engage them in conversation with the goal of isolating them.

To read more subscribe to Julie K. Brown’s substack